NBA Draft 2020: 5 teams who need to select a power forward
Utah Jazz
Like the Thunder, the Utah Jazz surprised some (though not as many) with their performance this season. Donovan Mitchell continued his lightning-fast development, complete with a massive star turn during the postseason.
Unfortunately for the Jazz, they’re looking lean at power forward. These are the players that spent at least 70 percent of their minutes at the position, per Basketball-Reference: Royce O’Neale, Georges Niang, Jeff Green. None of those players are moving the needle much as being a primary option on a playoff team.
Utah currently only has one pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, locked in at No. 23. The likes of Isaiah Stewart, Paul Reed, and Aleksej Pokuševski will once again be in play. There could be others in play too, though.
Vernon Carey got buckets during his one year at Duke, never scoring less than eight points in a single contest. He generally profiles better as a center, but he could create an imposing one-two punch in the middle with Rudy Gobert.
One of the draft’s more confounding prospects is
, who also profiles as more of a center. He impressed during his freshman year at Arizona, outplaying some of the more well-known names in Tucson. His three-point shot is projected to come along in the years, which could create a floor-spacing option at power forward when Gobert is on the court.
Next. Early class of 2021 recruiting takeaways. dark
Overall, this is not the most inspiring year for power forward prospects. But the lack of stars at the top of the draft could set up a deep class of power forwards to be spread around the NBA.